Social networks take a central place in public debate but struggle to assume the legal responsibilities that result from it. This is what is shown by a summons to appear sent Thursday, January 28. to the Twitter network by three victims of harassment, represented by lawyers Eric Morain and Antoine Vey.
Aurélia Gilbert is a survivor of the terrorist attack on the Bataclan on November 13, 2015. In the summer of 2020, she takes a stand, on the microblogging network, in favor of the repatriation of the children of French jihadists detained in Syria. Following her message, she suffered a wave of hate speech: “Too bad they missed it”, “If all the victims who died on November 13 were like her, then it’s not so bad”…
“We cross a limit, we are beyond the virtual”, she confides, still shocked:
“My account was hacked, they leaked my phone number, adding that I was a traitor to the nation. “
She lodged a complaint in August 2020 with the Paris prosecutor, who opened a preliminary investigation entrusted to the brigade for the repression of delinquency in persons (BRDP). But on January 8, 2021, his complaint was dismissed: Twitter simply did not respond to the judicial requisition summoning him to provide information to identify the alleged perpetrators of the harassment.
“I was told to stop social networks, but this is not normal, fear should not be established, no more in Bataclan than on the networks. “
Threats and insults following a tweet
The same mishap happened to Georges Salines, father of a young woman killed in Bataclan. He too suffered threats and insults following a tweet in favor of the repatriation of the children of jihadists in August 2020. He too lodged a complaint, which once again gave rise to a preliminary investigation. But, again, Twitter refuses to respond to police requests, this time on the grounds that an international rogatory commission is needed. If there is no response, the complaint is closed. Mr. Salines is annoyed:
“I find it unbelievable that justice should dismiss because a company ordered to provide information does not do so. “
Third case, that of journalist Nicolas Hénin, who was hostage for ten months by the Islamic State organization. Harassed on the networks in 2019 because he had reported a tweet calling for the murder of children of jihadists, he also files a complaint and an investigation is opened. But once again, Twitter, which had acknowledged receipt of the BRDP’s requests, asked for clarification, then let this request drag on for several months, leading to the filing of the complaint without further action because the harasser remained “Unknown”.
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